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Thursday, October 26, 2000

Cisneros: Hispanic vote critical in the Midwest

Sentiments in battleground states could turn tide in White House race, ex-S.A. mayor says

By Kelley Shannon
Associated Press

AUSTIN - Hispanic voters may prove more pivotal in Midwest battleground states in this presidential election than in big states like California, former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros said Wednesday.
   "It's not sorting out the way people thought," Cisneros said. "It's working out in a different way but could be equally decisive."
   Though the Hispanic vote had been considered crucial in such states as Texas, California and New York, the presidential race in those places seems to be leaning in favor of either Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Vice President Al Gore, he said. But in states still hotly contested - Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, for instance - Hispanic voters could help decide the Nov. 7 election, Cisneros said.
   "In every one of those places, there are very substantial Latino populations," he said.
   There are approximately 275,000 Hispanics in Michigan, 200,000 in Wisconsin and 1 million in Chicago and its suburbs in Illinois, he said.
   "Few Americans know that," Cisneros said. "I think in these last two weeks when both campaigns are pulling all the stops, they are not unmindful of these numbers."
   Cisneros, who was mayor of San Antonio from 1981-89 and secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Clinton's first term, spoke at a Hispanic Heritage luncheon attended by politicians, business leaders and lawyers in Austin.
   Afterward, Cisneros said he has been campaigning for Gore in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico and California in recent weeks.
   Despite speculation that he might run for Texas governor in 2002, Cisneros again said he has no plans to seek statewide office.
   Cisneros, 53, resigned his Cabinet post in 1996 after a federal investigation into charges that he lied to the FBI about payments made to a woman with whom he had an affair. Cisneros pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and paid a $10,000 fine. If he did seek public office, an opponent would likely bring up the charge, he said.
  
  

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